brit wrote:After Lunar 2 I got more into the RPG genre with other games like Lunar Silver Star Story, Chrono Cross, Legend of the Dragoon, and Star Ocean Second Story – to name a few. ^_^ It’s still my favorite genre, but a lot of the newer games just don’t do much for me lately. Like I like them, but I rarely replay them. Currently I’m trying out I Am Setsuna, but I’m still pretty early in the game to really say much on it.
Oh man, Star Ocean Second Story was the RPG I played while I was waiting for Lunar to come out. I sank SO many hours into that one as a kid. Think I rented it three times before my parents got me a copy for Christmas. Another really good story and cast of characters, plus the crafting was fun and simple and the possibilities were pretty much endless.
Let me know what you think of I Am Setsuna, I'm curious about what's out there these days but rarely pull the trigger on a new game (unless it's a cheap roguelike or bullet-hell shooter on Steam, I love those even though they drive me crazy).
brit wrote:As for my yearly Lunar I am playing them, but I’m doing them more at a leisurely pace this year since I had a few games comes out that I’ve been waiting for. I’m doing SSH on my PS Vita for my SSS playthrough – I’m 8+ hours in and just landing in Meriba. I always thought this remake was one of the better ones. I just loved the new sprite designs in it. However I think it lacks in difficulty. The game is so much easier than the PS1 and really doesn’t differ like Lunar Legend did.
In my lurkings, I thought I saw you mention replaying them in like 2-3 days. Did I read that right? If so, that's hardcore!
When I played through TSS I was surprised at how easy it was compared to SSSC. On the one hand, it's nice to be able to progress without too much hassle and/or restarting, but it does take some of the fun out of it.
brit wrote:In my EBC one I’m playing the Japanese game and I’m at Taiben’s Peak working my way up to Nall and the Dragon kids, right before we go into the Meriba Sewers. ^^ It’s so strange hearing the original voices. >.>
I can imagine! I played the iOS version of SSS with the Japanese voices, and it was an experience for sure. Do you read/speak Japanese?
Kizyr wrote:...Midori/Naoko/Reiko...
SPOILERS
also PG-13ish
It's been a while since I finished this one, so the details are fading and I may be misremembering things. But the story seems like a classic example of a protagonist being forced to choose between fantasy and reality. Especially near the end, Naoko represents a sort of dark fantasy. She's physically removed from the chaos of everyday life, including the political agitation at school. She's ethereal and unreal at times (when she's standing naked in the moonlight in front of him, IIRC?). And there's that edge of death to her that foreshadows the suicide, like you mentioned.
But Midori is the total opposite. She lives in the real world, as messy as it is (right down to her family's cluttered bookstore). She cooks, she has thoughts on politics, and she says what's on her mind. Wasn't she the one that brought up the janitor burning sanitary pads at the girl's school, too? That detail really crystallizes the rest for me. She acknowledges the realities of both human biology and its consequences in one piece of dialog.
In the aftermath of Naoko's suicide, I think Reiko functions as a kind of guide for Watanabe to show him the way out of his shattered fantasy and back to reality. She has a foot in both worlds, living at the facility (forget the term used in the text) but also being of sound mind. Having sex with him seemed like a weird way to do it at first, but think about how literally all the sex in the novel goes beforehand -- it's empty, anonymous, and/or traumatic. With Reiko, though, it's way more positive, and might change his perspective on sex (or even life) and make a healthy relationship with Midori possible. We'll never know, of course.
Apologies if I'm just stating the obvious in terms of the story, but that's what has really stuck with me. Think I finished the book about a year ago. Might be worth a reread soon.
Kizyr wrote:Now that I'm done with that, I decided to switch back to classic science fiction. I tried the first chapters of Childhood's End (Clarke), The Man in the High Castle (Dick), and Count Zero (Gibson), and chose to go with Count Zero now. So far, so good -- a bit like Neuromancer, he likes to jump right into the middle of the world and not spend a lot of time on exposition, letting you figure it out as you go.
Awesome. I always liked that about Gibson's work -- he respects you enough to know that you can fill in the blanks, and that also frees him up to get to the emotional core of what's going on.